Environmental Education in Environmental Engineering: Analysis of the Situation in Colombia and Latin America

Environmental education (EE) has become the only tool for environmental sustainability in training processes in Colombia, for basic cycles in primary and secondary, as well as university education. EE tends to transform human actions in nature, based on multidisciplinary knowledge that supports deci...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inSustainability Vol. 12; no. 18; p. 7239
Main Authors Acosta Castellanos, Pedro Mauricio, Queiruga-Dios, Araceli, Hernández Encinas, Ascensión, Acosta, Libia Cristina
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 04.09.2020
Subjects
Civil engineering
Climate change
Colleges & universities
Core curriculum
Engineers
Environmental education
Environmental engineering
Environmental impact
Higher education
Natural resources
Social change
Society
Students
Sustainable development
Colombia
Latin America
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Environmental education (EE) has become the only tool for environmental sustainability in training processes in Colombia, for basic cycles in primary and secondary, as well as university education. EE tends to transform human actions in nature, based on multidisciplinary knowledge that supports decision-making. Its goal is to generate a change in social behavior in order to achieve the recovery, conservation, and preservation of the environment. In Colombia, education for sustainable development (ESD) is embedded in EE. These educational models (EE and ESD) seek to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs), which generally seek the economic and social well-being of nations, both for current and future generations. Environmental engineering is a relatively new degree course in Colombia and Latin America since it appeared in the mid-nineties, and it must involve EE within its curriculum. Students are trained in this trend. This research intends to demonstrate, through a curricular review of the environmental engineering curricula and also surveying students from this degree, the level of inclusion of EE in Latin America. Strengths are identified in the curricula, such as the strong presence of EE in disciplinary subjects and opportunities for improvement based on the needs of the students. The situation in South America is also included in this study.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su12187239